Japanese Art Paddies

Back in 1993, farmers from the Japanese village of Inakadate (田舎館) started making art on their rice paddies by planting three different coloured rice plants – purple, the yellow-leafed kodaimai, and the traditional green-leafed tsugaru. Once these plants grew to their full size, patterns would emerge in the fields.

From these humble beginnings, a new rice paddy artform has grown across Japan and other countries, with farmers using the latest technologies to design the “paddy-art” in advance.